A project about disability in Western Zambia

I was recently interviewed by the dynamic Krysta Wark of the Global Physio Podcast. Krysta and I had been messaging about this interview since March, but it was only in August that we got around to doing the 30-minute podcast interview. At the time of the initial request, Krysta offered me a free-range: as long … Continue reading Sometimes it might be useful to be long-winded. Maybe.

It has now been two months since I arrived back in Montreal. I will not lie; I was tired by the end of my fieldwork period in Zambia. The climax of the last week was a workshop with disability advocates and policymakers in Lusaka. The event was great, but a lot of work to prepare. … Continue reading Back to Canadian routine

I returned to Zambia in 2018 with the intention to blog…fairly regularly. Instead of my lengthy emails to individuals, or posting material on Facebook, the blog was to be the authoritative account of my work. Using this strategy, I could be more efficient. I could devote my energy to writing that mattered, writing that is … Continue reading An Update!

I have been more irritable than usual of late. As the irritability slowly ramped up, I mostly knew “the cause,” having previously experienced this before when living outside of Canada. I can best describe the cause as follows: Problematic situations that seem like they can be addressed, but somehow, are never resolved. Interestingly, my irritability … Continue reading The mysterious art of choosing one’s battles

My work these days is focused on policy. A few years back, I would not have imagined myself going into policy research. At that time, I was a reticent researcher; concerned that I would leave behind the world of folks who do things in order and enter the world of folks who sit around by themselves … Continue reading “I work on policy, which means…?”

This is a time of “new things” for me. It’s a new year, I’m at a new university, and I’m starting a new project. A week ago Saturday, I arrived back in Zambia to work on the postdoctoral research that I am doing through McGill University. The research builds upon my PhD project. During the … Continue reading A new start

A review of the lessons learned during my most recent time in Bulozi This is the second of two follow up posts written after my departure from Bulozi in early March 2017. In the first, I provided a recap of my involvement, with an emphasis on how things finished. In this post, I will go … Continue reading What I learned

A final account of the activities and results of January-February 2017 in Bulozi It has now been one month since my departure from Bulozi. I had fully intended to broadcast the story of how things finished in a timely fashion, but unfortunately, competing priorities got in the way. Some of those competing projects are interesting, … Continue reading This is how it finished

I met Levy and Tamara when they boarded a minibus that I was riding. They were communicating in a local language that I was learning in earnest, providing me with the opportunity to share halting greetings and awkward conversation. The language was Zambian Sign. Because Levy and Tamara are Deaf. My involvement with the Deaf … Continue reading Levy and Tamara

A brief glimpse into my daily life when in Mongu In this blog, I write regularly about my work and how I think about it. That is intentional: I would rather get people talking about those things. But just for once, today, I would like to share some things about the place where I lived … Continue reading A View of the Home Front

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About this project

What does disability mean to you?
What is disability, in general?

Having trained as a rehabilitation professional, I was confident in my ability to answer the questions above. Sufficiently confident to travel outside my country of origin to improve the situation of persons with disabilities.Read more